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<tt>[I think this may be of interest to some of you - Artur] <br>
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</tt><font size=4>OTHER WORDS PORTO ALEGRE 2002 SITE UPDATE NEWSLETTER --
</font><font size=4 color="#808080">NOVEMBER 6, 2001 -- Nº 14 <br>
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<b>I INTERNATIONALISM, ANTIDOTE TO WAR<br>
<br>
</b>More than 50 social movements and organizations connected with the
struggle for social change open the second meeting of the International
Council of the World Social Forum (WSF), on October 29, in Dakar Senegal.
Our editor, <b>Antonio Martins</b>, who took part as the Brazilian
representative of Attac, brings some of the first day's debate. <i>Full
text at the end of this message.<br>
<br>
</i> <br>
<br>
<b>II HIDING OUT IN QATAR<br>
<br>
Our voice must be heard in Doha<br>
<br>
</b>Two years have gone by since Seattle, but it seems our leaders have
learnt nothing, complains Canadian researcher and activist, <b>Maude
Barlow</b>, referring to the lords of world trade. Barlow's concerns are
set out in a document that is fundamental to understanding the
importance of the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), to take place in Doha, Qatar, from November 9 to
13.<br>
<br>
Barlow assesses the significance of each of the main points that will be
on the negotiating table in Doha, ready to be hacked about by the heavy
hand of capital.<br>
<br>
Volunteer Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, an NGO with a
membership of over 100,000, Barlow throws light on the proposal to set up
an International Trade Court. Her figures show clearly who stands to gain
most from this move: of the 117 trade disputes before the WTO, the US has
an interest in 50 of them.<br>
<br>
The WTO, which Barlow describes as the most powerful global institution
of our time, chose Qatar to host its meeting to preclude the kind of
protests that took place at its last attempt to reach a trade
liberalization agreement in Seattle. The climate this time, however, will
only be slightly different from the failed Millennium Round. Barlow warns
that the lack of consensus among the participants may be a far more
potent force working for the round to fail yet again.<br>
<br>
This should be no comfort to activists though: it is more important than
ever that our work continue and our voices be heard. The risks to farmers
and workers have never been greater; theft of traditional crops is
speeding up as is the spread of western-style monoculture. Once again, we
must demand: No to the New Round
(<a href="http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/NGingles/view.htm?user=reader&infoid=1735&editionsectionid=73"><i>English</a></i>).<br>
<br>
<b>How do you make the fish swallow the bait?<br>
<br>
</b>What can one offer underdeveloped countries so that, in exchange,
they will sign a treaty that is of no benefit to them? That seems to be
the key of a meeting held in September, in Mexico, between
representatives of Canada, US, Japan and the European Union, to define a
common strategy for the WTO ministerial conference.<br>
<br>
The Mexico meeting was to be one of those closed encounters to try to fix
part of the planet's fate. <b>ATTAC</b>, however, managed to draft quite
a complete report of what was discussed there. It reveals that the four
main players in the WTO see developing countries' opposition on
agricultural issues as the main obstacle to approval of a new round. For
a long time now they have been calling for liberalization in farm
products which they feel would give them greater access to consumer
markets at the capitalist centre.<br>
<br>
Most likely, according to ATTAC, is that minor concessions will be made
to southern countries, providing the agreement does not restrict the
six-figure subsidies the developed countries grant to agricultural
exports
(<a href="http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/NGingles/view.htm?user=reader&infoid=1736&editionsectionid=73"><i>French</a></i>).<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>III ROUND THE WORLD<br>
<br>
Rebuilding the planet from the classroom<br>
<br>
</b>Public education, together with social movements, has a central role
to play in building the world anew, asserts the Letter from Porto Alegre.
That document marked the culmination last Friday of the <b>World
Education Forum</b>, an event that brought together some 15,000 people in
the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This clearly humanist
text stresses the importance of public education in the battle for peace
and to reassert respect for differences: A special kind of endeavour is
required for us to understand that whatever their beliefs, ways of life,
tastes, feelings, (...) people are always human subjects of rights.
Education, as a necessary condition for peace, has a leading role to play
in this struggle.<br>
<br>
The Letter offers a substantial evaluation of the international
situation: it sees the present as a time of breakdown. That is why the
cry that another world is possible is finding an echo in all the
continents across the globe, and will be steadily amplified by forces,
organizations and sectors that understand the need for radical change in
economic proposals at the world level. Both the imbalance between North
and South and the growing gap between rich and poor, and the peril of
violence sparked by the irrationalities that threaten all forms of
civilization have been thrown into stark relief by the attacks of
September 11, declares the Letter
(<a href="http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/NGingles/view.htm?user=reader&infoid=1692&editionsectionid=122"><i>Portuguese</a></i>).<br>
<br>
<b>Another world means another journalism too<br>
<br>
</b>The main challenge facing communicators today is to coordinate
existing alternative and community media into a network capable of
surmounting the blockade imposed by the major information chains. That
was the opinion of participants in the Congress of Latin American and
Caribbean Journalists held this month in Havana.<br>
<br>
The congress highlighted a number of specific tasks to that end:
demanding that governments ensure plural communication in their societies
as a basic right and introduce university programmes that afford
journalists an overall perspective, putting an end to the myth of the
technical, impartial reporter. These and other accounts are in a report
by the Chilean newspaper, <b>El Siglo</b>
(<a href="http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/NGingles/view.htm?user=reader&infoid=1665&editionsectionid=117"><i>Spanish</a></i>).<br>
<br>
<hr>
<div align="center">
<b>Meeting of the International Council of the World Social
Forum<br>
<br>
</b></div>
<br>
<br>
This is the International Council's last meeting but one before the WSF
in Porto Alegre, which is to take place between January 31 and February
5, 2002. As expected, the event is marked by debate over the consequences
of the September 11 attacks and the war of retaliation unleashed by the
United States. From the very first day, there were signs of substantial
unity among those present. An ample majority of speakers concentrated on
the effort to rework global resistance to neoliberalism and to work for
alternatives in the difficult situation that has emerged since war broke
out. The other days of the meeting were to discuss in detail the
"architecture" of WSF 2002.<br>
<br>
Some of the most outstanding personalities in the nascent global movement
against neoliberalism were present at the meeting. Bernard Cassen,
chairman of the group ATTAC in France, stressed that by its very
internationalist nature, the movement is an antidote to prejudice and
ethnic hatred. "Here, Arabs and Jews, blacks and whites, Latin
Americans and North Americans, Moslems and Christians coexist and work
together for a world based on solidarity".<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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<b>Internationalism as an antidote to war<br>
<br>
</b></div>
<br>
<br>
From the Philippines, Walden Bello, of <i>Focus on the Global South</i>,
warned that despite the military setbacks the US has suffered in recent
days "we should not underestimate the White House's long experience
in war, nor its ability to learn from past mistakes". He recalled
that from the outset the war's imperial aims were clear: "The World
Trade Center was still in flames when the US Secretary of Trade declared
that the best way to combat terror was to expand free trade". Bello
also stated that, although great tactical flexibility may be necessary
after September 11, the movement should not retreat from its strategic
positions: "only by keeping alive the hope of a new,
de-mercantilized world, will we be able to present ourselves as an
alternative to the plans of the Empire".<br>
<br>
From Belgiu, François Houtart, of the World Forum of Alternatives,
highlighted one of the main challenges for those fighting for
internationalism based on solidarity: "New movements must be built
with workers organizations that stand in direct opposition to capital. We
have to understand that there are different cultures of resistance, and
that therefore the task is not easy but continues
indispensable".<br>
<br>
Far more controversial was the proposal advanced by Francisco Whitaker,
of the Brazilian Peace and Justice Commission. He suggested that next
year the movements united around the World Social Forum should enter into
dialogue with the UN, IMF, World Bank and governments of several
countries, with a view to encountering ways to combat hunger and the risk
of "world-wide destruction". He saw the proposal as a way to
retrieve the initiative and regain visibility after September 11. This
was contested by Eric Toussaint (Belgium), of the Committee for the
cancellation of the Third World Debt (COCAD). "Entering into that
dialogue now, when these people need t hide behind high walls to hold
their meetings, would be to restore unacceptable legitimacy to
them", said Toussaint.<br>
<br>
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<b> 50,000 against neo-liberalism in 2002<br>
<br>
</b></div>
Debate on the multiple agenda for WSF 2002, which the organizers
consider the "architecture" of the event, started today and
will continue tomorrow. They face a "good problem": more than
50,000 people are expected at Porto Alegre 2002, and they have to be
afforded the opportunity to participate actively in the debates.<br>
<br>
The organizers' first response is to spread WSF 2002 right across the
city of Porto Alegre, and no longer just across the Catholic University
campus. The major meetings (conferences) will be held in amphitheatres
with capacity for at least 2,000 people. From 16, they will now number
26. The workshops and seminars will also multiply, as will the major
debates with leading figures from opposition to global capitalism. That
will be the theme of the next <i>Other Words</i>.<br>
<br>
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